PHILADELPHIA — The man charged in the attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro triggered an alarm outside the governor’s mansion but remained hidden before he set the residence ablaze, Shapiro said in an interview that aired Friday on "Good Morning America."

Shapiro told co-anchor George Stephanopoulos in the interview, which took place Thursday at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg, that the suspect scaled the fence with a bag filled with Molotov cocktails and a metal hammer. But before he got to the mansion, he triggered a sensor near a bush where he hid just outside the home.

“He tripped off one of the security sensors here, which prompted a state trooper to come out and try and figure out what was going on,” Shapiro said. “It was dark, and the trooper wasn’t able to spot him.”

That allowed the attacker to move down a walking path through the mansion’s rose garden, shatter a window with his hammer, and toss in one of the incendiary devices, Shapiro said.

The mansion was set ablaze Sunday, hours after Shapiro and his family hosted a Seder for Passover. Shapiro, first lady Lori Shapiro, and their children were forced to evacuate the residence at about 2 a.m. Sunday.

Cody A. Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, has been charged with attempted homicide, terrorism, and other crimes after police said he intentionally set fire to the governor’s mansion. After his capture, he told police he was “harboring a hatred” for Shapiro and would have attacked him with a hammer if the opportunity presented itself.

“There were clearly security failures,” Shapiro said. “I want you to know I have confidence in the Pennsylvania State Police to learn from it, to address it. We’re bringing in a third party, an independent law enforcement leader, to review our protocols, to review our systems, and make them even better.”

The fire also could have been much worse. A door connecting the reception room to the rest of the mansion was closed and locked during the attack. Had it been open, the fire would have quickly spread to the rest of the residence, according to Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline.

Authorities have not yet announced Balmer’s motive for attacking the governor’s mansion, and Shapiro hasn’t speculated.

“I don’t care if it’s coming from the left, from the right. I don’t care if it’s coming from someone who you voted for or someone who you didn’t vote for, someone on your team or someone on the other team,” Shapiro told Stephanopoulos.

Trump has yet to contact Shapiro

President Donald Trump has not said much about the attack, other than telling reporters at the White House on Monday the suspect was “probably just a whack job.”

Trump had yet to reach out, Shapiro said, despite his own brush with a would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the 2024 election. Shapiro said he has spoken with two members of Trump’s administration: Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Shapiro said the only way to combat such acts of hate is for all politicians, regardless of their political party, to speak out in a unified voice. He also criticized to Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser, who suggested earlier this week Shapiro’s own rhetoric about Trump contributed to the attack.

“I think leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity, and that particular congressman failed yet again,” Shapiro said.

Repairs to the governor’s mansion are underway

Repairs are currently underway at the governor’s residence, and while it’s unclear when he and his family will be able to move back in, Shapiro said they’ll still be holding the Easter Egg Roll there Tuesday.

“We’re both insistent upon it happening. We want to welcome children and families from all across Pennsylvania back to the governor’s residence,” Shapiro said at a luncheon for the Harrisburg firefighters Thursday. “Obviously, it’ll take some time before we can have them in the state dining room, but we’re going to work to get that repaired real quick.”

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